After many, many months of anticipation, the first day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2001 has come and gone. I experienced E3 last year, and I can say without a doubt that this year's event surpasses it completely. I've played Nintendo's GameCube. I've played Microsoft's Xbox. I've played Final Fantasy X. Envious? You oughtta be, and this fall RPGamers will be able to experience what E3 2001 had to offer those lucky enough to attend the show. Read on to learn about my experiences with and opinions of the major consoles shown at the show.

Nintendo's GameCube stole the show, without a doubt in my mind. Although they don't fall under our coverage, several previously unknown GameCube games such as Super Smash Bros. Melee and Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet were announced the day before the show at Nintendo's press conference. These two and many more games including Luigi's Mansion were playable at the show, but unfortunately, the upcoming GameCube incarnation of the Zelda series was nowhere to be found.

Nearly as exciting as the GameCube games themselves were the finalized GameCube controllers used to play the games. I personally have been a fan of the GameCube controllers since I first saw the prototype photos from the Spaceworld show last August, and nothing could have prepared me for how good these controllers felt in my hands as I played a GameCube game. Without a doubt, these are the hands-down best controllers I have ever used. Period.

The soon-to-be-released Game Boy Advance also made a strong showing at Nintendo's booth, with quite a few playable games such as Mario Kart Advance and Wario Land 4 (which, contrary to earlier reports, is thankfully not an RPG). However, much to my dismay, nearly all of the upcoming GBA RPGs, including Magical Vacation (which I was very much looking forward to playing) and Golden Sun, were neither playable nor on video display at Nintendo's booth.

New console systems are always exciting, and using that logic, Microsoft's Xbox didn't disappoint. However, after seeing and playing what Nintendo's GameCube had to offer, the Xbox wasn't nearly as impressive as it otherwise would have been if it hadn't been in competition with another brand new system. The Xbox had a larger number of games shown at their booth than Nintendo had at theirs, and several individual Xbox titles such as Halo and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee were impressive. Also, an action/adventure (possibly action/RPG, we're not quite sure) title called Nightcaster, which resembled a more action-packed Diablo, caught my eye. Despite all this, though, Microsoft's shown lineup didn't impress me nearly as much as Nintendo's. In addition, after using Nintendo's godsend of a controller, Microsoft's larger, bulkier controller seemed obtrusive and unintuitive. Despite my nitpickings, though, Microsoft seems to be a definite force to be reckoned with in the console market.

By now, many RPGamers have had a chance to play a PlayStation2. The PS2 is no longer the new kid on the block like it was last year, and because of this, Sony's showing was much less impressive than it was at last year's E3. The PlayStation2 has some great RPGs coming out for it, like Dark Cloud and Final Fantasy X, as well as a good number of great-looking games in other genres, including Metal Gear Solid 2 and Gran Turismo 3. But even considering their strengths, Sony doesn't appear ready to combat Nintendo and Microsoft's dual hardware launches this upcoming November. Sony currently has the strongest announced RPG lineup of the three consoles, although this fact may change as the future unfolds.

Last year was probably the biggest year ever for RPGs, and that fact was reflected at last year's show, with scores of RPGs on display. Because of this year's transition into a new generation of console systems, RPG showings and news are fewer and more low-key at E3 2001. This is a very exciting time for the video game industry, and although we're not seeing the same level of excitement in the RPG market, future E3 shows are sure to hold many innovative surprizes in our favorite genre.